Draft:Devon Conversions

The Devon conversion company has been associated with VW since 1956. They became the official UK Volkswagen converters of Type 2 vans in 1972, a model they began producing in 1956-57.

The company operated out of the Alexandria Works in Sidmouth, Devon, and later in Exeter until 1985, when it ceased operations. The name was subsequently purchased, and the Devon company now operates as a family firm in Ferryhill, County Durham, for over 21 years.

The original company was started by Jack White in a garden shed in Sidmouth, trading as 'J P WHITE'. Jack, a carpenter and builder with a passion for VWs, began producing the Caravette in earnest from his shed in 1956. In 1960, the business moved to the Alexandria Works, a former gasworks site in Sidmouth with its own railway sidings. It employed 75 local tradesmen and produced 1,000 Caravettes a year.

Jack died of a heart attack in 1963 while driving at the Alexandria Works factory. His wife sold the company to the Renwick Wilton & Dobson Group, which retained most of the staff and continued trading under the J P White (Sidmouth) Ltd name until June 1971, when it was renamed 'Devon Conversions Ltd'.

By 1972, the company had become the official VW converter for the UK, selling 3,500 campervans annually. The company moved to Exeter in 1981 before going into voluntary liquidation in 1985, marking the end of an era in British campervan history.